Match report

Lleyton Hewitt © Tennistalk.com
Australian Open
3rd round
1/19/08 1 2 3 4 5 Tot
au  Lleyton Hewitt 4 7 7 6 4 6 3
cy  Marcos Baghdatis 6 5 5 7 7 3 2
Marcos Baghdatis © Tennistalk.com

  • Lleyton Hewitt defeats Marcos Baghdatis in a 5 set thriller

    1/20/08 11:16 AM | Cheryl Murray
    It may have been one of the most thrilling days in grand slam history. When Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt took the court, it was already past midnight.

    The day had seen two five set matches and a steady rain in Melbourne eliminated the possibility of play on the outside courts. Little did the fans in Rod Laver Arena know that instead of a tennis match, they were going to get a roller coaster ride.

    Baghdatis took the first set at 6-4 amid the raucus cheers of his staunch Greek and Cypriot supporters. Hewitt started slowly, hitting only 5 winners and committing 12 unforced errors. Hewitt's play did not improve considerably in the second set, but his nerves did. He broke serve at 6-5 to take the set as the Cypriot went down with a badly turned ankle. After receiving an injury time out and getting his ankle taped, Baghdatis went back to work.

    Hewitt appeared a bit out of sorts at the beginning of the third set, and though it was Baghdatis who was hurt, Hewitt was broken at 1-2. Many more backhands dumped into the net and a few expletives later, Hewitt was one game from losing the third set. But Marcos Baghdatis wouldn't be Marcos Baghdatis if he didn't have a brain cramp. At 0-30, he double faulted and pushed a forehand wide to give Hewitt 3 break points. Hewitt took the set when Baghdatis missed an easy overhead.

    Baghdatis continued to play erratically into the fourth set. At 3-0, Hewitt had reeled off 7 games in a row, and Baghdatis looked completely dejected. At 5-1, everyone was ready to go home - except Baghdatis, apparently. Suddenly he started smiling again, and in another of this matches amazing momentum shifts, Baghdatis won the next 4 games to level the set at 5. Against all odds, Baghdatis would manage to take the the fourth set in a tiebreak.

    The fifth set almost seemed like a letdown after the excitement of the rest of the match. Baghdatis quite simply ran out of steam. Hewitt was able to break twice to take the final set at 6-3. The match ended at 4:34 a.m., the latest ending match in Grand Slam history. It seemed a shame that either player had to lose a match for which they'd fought so hard. I suspect that Marcos Baghdatis was not the only person with tears in his eyes. It may not have been the highest quality match ever, but it made memories nonetheless.

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